PHILADELPHIA — Three hours before Matt Moore threw his first pitch Saturday, Joe Girardi sat in the Phillies dugout and outlined his expectations for the lefty in his first start in 18 days.
“We’re not looking for him to go seven innings,” Girardi said. “We understand. But just give us whatever you got and we’ll figure it out from there.”
As it turned out, Moore had plenty to give. Six no-hit innings, in fact, against the Cincinnati Reds. And the Phillies did figure it out. Although they were unable to close out the no-hitter -- Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson broke it up with a leadoff home run in the eighth inning -- the offense broke out late in an easy, breezy 6-1 victory before an announced crowd of 25,100 at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies retained at least a share of the division lead. And they will send Aaron Nola to the mound Sunday with a chance to win the series and gain a split in a six-game homestand against the Dodgers and Reds, playoff contenders in the National League.
Moore turned back the clock to a time when he was regarded among the best young pitchers in baseball. Armed with a fastball that touched 95 mph and averaged 93, a bat-slowing changeup, and a knees-knocking curveball, he did more than fill a vacancy in the starting rotation. He dominated, leaving the Phillies tantalizingly close to the 14th no-hitter in franchise history.
With a 2-0 lead in tow on a homer by Ronald Torreyes and an RBI double by J.T. Realmuto, Girardi may have left Moore in the game beyond the sixth inning to face the Reds’ lineup for a third time. But Moore exhausted 76 pitches, more than his last two relief appearances combined (62) and his highest total in a game since a 96-pitch start July 22 against Atlanta.
And so, the Phillies turned to Héctor Neris for a scoreless seventh inning and called on Archie Bradley for the eighth. Bradley gave up the homer to Stephenson and later a two-out single to Tyler Naquin.
But the offense, dormant for much of the week, broke it open in the eighth inning before Ian Kennedy closed it out in the ninth.
The Phillies had an opening in the starting rotation after Chase Anderson injured his triceps last week. They took advantage of a scheduling break to push off filling it for a few days. But even though they knew they would need somebody for the middle game against the Reds, they didn’t commit to Moore until a few days ago.
It marked Moore’s third opportunity to enter the rotation. He lost his spot in April after contact tracing landed him on the COVID-19 restricted list. When he came down with a back injury in May, the Phillies sent him on a month-long minor-league assignment before giving him another opportunity. But a 5.86 ERA in six starts and the trade-deadline addition of Kyle Gibson forced Moore to the bullpen yet again.
Moore looked dominant in a four-inning relief appearance Aug. 4 in Washington. He had more life on his fastball, topping out at 96 mph, and got five swings and misses. But the Los Angeles Dodgers roughed him up Tuesday night. He faced four batters and allowed three hits and three runs.
Girardi figured there would be some early bellwethers against the Reds.
“You’re going to look at swings and misses,” Girardi said. “We want to see him attack like he did in Washington, where he was 95. I think he hit 96. That’s old Matt Moore.”
Moore’s first pitch to Reds leadoff man Jonathan India was 92 mph. He flashed a few 94s in the first inning. But it was his offspeed stuff, as much as anything, that flummoxed the Reds. Four of his strikeouts came on the changeup, two on the curveball.
Big game for Toe
With Alec Bohm continuing to struggle defensively, Girardi gave Torreyes a fifth consecutive start at third base. Once again, Torreyes made the manager look wise, taking flame-throwing Reds starter Luis Castillo deep to break a scoreless stalemate in the third inning.
Didi flashes the leather
Moore faced the minimum through three innings thanks in large part to shortstop Didi Gregorius.
After scorching-hot Joey Votto drew a leadoff walk in the second inning, Gregorius made a diving play to his right and threw from the ground to second base to get a force out.
Triple the pleasure
Bryce Harper padded the Phillies’ lead in the eighth inning, first with an RBI triple and then with heads-up baserunning.
Harper hit a line drive that got past sliding Reds right fielder Nick Castellanos and rolled to the wall. After sliding into third base -- and giving the proverbial salute to the dugout -- he noticed the ball rolled away from Stephenson and out toward the mound. Harper took off for home plate and scored easily to make it 5-1.
